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Glossary
B1 Preliminary glossary
Answer sheet
the form on which candidates record their responses.
Assessor
the Speaking test examiner who assigns a score to a candidate’s performance, using analytical criteria to do so.
Cloze test
a type of gap-filling task in which whole words have been removed from a text and which candidates must replace.
Coherence
language which is coherent is well planned and clear, and all the parts or ideas fit well so that they form a united whole.
Collaborative task
the opportunity in the Speaking test for the candidates to engage in a discussion and work together towards a negotiated outcome of the task set.
Discourse
written or spoken communication.
Gap-filling item
any type of item which requires the candidate to insert some written material – letters, numbers, single words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs – into spaces in the text. The response may be supplied by the candidate or selected from a set of options.
Gist
the central theme or meaning of the text.
Impeding error
an error which prevents the reader from understanding the word or phrase.
Interlocutor
the Speaking test examiner who conducts the test and makes a global assessment of each candidate’s performance.
Item
each testing point in a test which is given a separate mark or marks.
Key
the correct answer to an item.
Lexical
adjective from lexis, meaning to do with vocabulary.
Long turn
the opportunity in the Speaking test for a candidate to talk uninterrupted for a period of time, enabling them to produce an extended piece of discourse.
Lozenge
the space on the mark sheet which candidates must fill in to indicate their answer to a multiple-choice question.
Multiple choice
a task where candidates are given a set of several possible answers of which only one is correct.
Multiple matching
a task in which a number of questions or sentence-completion items, generally based on a reading text, are set. The responses are provided in the form of a bank of words or phrases, each of which can be used an unlimited number of times.
Opening and closing formulae
the expressions, either formal or informal, that are usually used to open and close letters, e.g. Dear Maria… With best wishes from…, or Dear Mr Dakari… Yours sincerely…
Options
the individual words in the set of possible answers for a multiple-choice item.
Paraphrase
to give the meaning of something using different words.
Pretesting
a stage in the development of test materials at which items are tried out with representative samples from the target population in order to determine their difficulty.
Prompt sentence
the complete sentence given as the opening line of a story in B1 Preliminary Writing Part 2.
Referencing
the technique of using ‘referents’.
Referent
a word or term that refers to another person, place, etc.
Register
the tone of a piece of writing. The register should be appropriate for the task and target reader, e.g. a letter of application is written in a formal register.
Rubric
the instructions to an examination question which tell the candidate what to do when answering the question.
Target reader
the intended recipient of a piece of writing. It is important to ensure that the effect of a written task on a target reader is a positive one.
Acronyms
ALTE
The Association of Language Testers in Europe
CEFR
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
EFL
English as a Foreign Language
ESOL
English for Speakers of Other Languages
UCLES
University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate
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